Vance Trefethen

August 20, 2011

Research Camp, Team-Policy Debate, Author of Blue Book Cases

Coach Vance debated in National Forensic League debate while in high school from 1979-1982. In college, he judged at high school NFL tournaments in North Carolina. After college, he moved around the country for various jobs, including some time with the Defense Department in the Washington, D.C., area and several years at the headquarters of Wal-Mart in Arkansas.

After moving back to North Carolina, he once again got involved in debate by volunteering as an assistant coach for public school NFL debaters. A homeschooling dad himself, he realized the growing potential and benefit of homeschool debate and switched over to coaching homeschoolers a couple years later. In 2001, he helped Chris Jeub with bringing The Blue Book to a more advanced level. He has been co-authoring Blue Book ever since.

Currently Vance is working in Lille, France for an engineering software company. He and his wife, Bridget, homeschooled their two now-grown daughters, Charlotte and Rebecca, who live back in the States.